Frozen Waves – Chapter 9

Hydro collapsed on her bed in the dorm, too exhausted to even notice that Nightwalker had followed behind her. “He’s dead…” Hydro whispered. “Bass died and it’s my fault.”

“No, it’s not.” Night said, sitting next to his half-sister. “Bass chose to make you help Frigid first. He knew his time was up.”

Hydro sighed, looking down her snout in sadness. “I just… UGH! I wish we could have done something to save him!”

“Bass may be dead,” Night said quietly. “But Frigid is alive, and the medicine will help him. He’ll live. You saved a dragon today, Hydro. That’s an accomplishment.”

Hydro’s shoulders sagged as Nightwalker wrapped a wing around her comfortingly, holding her close. “It’ll be okay…” he said, slowly rocking her back and forth as tears streamed out of her eyes. “I promise.”

It was almost an hour later when Night noticed Hydro’s breathing had slowed, and she’d fallen asleep. Gently laying her down on the bed, Night stood and left the dorm, heading back to the entrance of the school. He saw a MudWing at the front desk and approached him. “Hello?” he asked.

The MudWing turned and smiled at him. “Hi! Welcome to Jade Mountain Academy, how can I help you?”

“I wanna enroll here.” Night said firmly. “In the Gold Winglet.”

The MudWing dug through some scrolls and pulled out one labeled ‘Gold Winglet’. Checking it over, he smiled. “Well, we don’t have a NightWing in that winglet yet, so I don’t see why not. Just fill out this paperwork and you’re in!”

Night took the paper and thanked the MudWing, then went and sat down on a nearby chair, beginning to fill out the stack of paperwork.

Nightwalker entered Hydro’s dorm almost an hour and a half later, eyes tired from staring at the paperwork for so long and his body still aching from the overuse of his animus magic. Sighting an empty bed, he sat down and realized he had no belongings of his own to place on the desk nearby. He grabbed a small stone off the floor of the cavern and whispered a command to it.

“Enchant this stone so that whenever I hold it, I can summon my belongings to me.”

A slight shock went through his arm as he whispered the words, but it soon faded.

“Quills.” He said. Instantly, several quills appeared in front of him, made from dark black feathers. Night smiled and spoke another word. “Scrolls.” And several rolls of scrolls appeared before him, right next to the quills. “Armbands. Ring. Earrings. Necklace. Gemstones.” Each time Night spoke a word, that item appeared before him. Soon, he had his belongings placed across his desk, a little messy but acceptable. His more valuable belongings, like his gemstones and jewelry, were placed in a small bag stuffed in the back of a drawer, while the other items weren’t hidden at all.

“Well, now that that’s done…” Night stretched, preparing to curl up in bed, when two new dragons walked into the dorm. An IceWing and a SandWing.

The next morning, Hydro woke up before anybody else. She quickly went to the infirmary, intending to check on how Frigid was doing. Cactus was inside, tending to a much more aware Frigid. Hydro cleared her throat as she entered, and the two dragons turned their heads towards her. “Hydro, you’re up early!” Cactus said. “Shouldn’t you be catching up on schoolwork? You did miss the last few days.”

“I wanted to check how Frigid was doing.” She looked to the IceWing and smiled.

“I’m doing as well as i can,” Frigid smiled warmly. “All thanks to you. Cactus told me all about what happened. Without you, I’d have ended up like Bass.”

Hydro flinched at the mention of the SeaWing’s name. She still felt guilty about his death.

Frigid noticed and sat up with a bit of a struggle, looking down at the hybrid. “Hydro, you know it’s not your fault.” He said. “There was nothing anybody could have done.”

Hydro sighed, but nodded. “Thanks, Frigid.” She said, stepping up next to the stone examination table he was sitting on. “So, how do you feel?”

“Well, my side still hurts, but I think it’s healing well.”

“It is,” Cactus nodded. “You should be fully healed in a week or so.”

“That’s great!” Hydro smiled. Frigid chuckled. “Well, at least I get to stay in here. I’ll probably have a lot of extra work to catch up on though.” He joked dryly.

“I wouldn’t mind getting your work from the teachers if you’d like.” Hydro offered. “I can just ask them for it each day and then bring it here for you to work on. I’ll even help you, too.”

“Really?” Frigid asked. “I mean, you’ve already done so much for me, I don’t wanna be a burden.”

“No problem.” She smiled. She glanced up at a clock hanging on the wall and her eyes widened. “The first bell is about to ring! I gotta get to class- Bye Cactus, bye Frigid!” She called, turning and quickly running out of the infirmary and back to her dorm. The rest of her wingmates were already gone, aside from one.

“Night? What are you doing here?” Hydro asked, shaking her brother, who was still asleep.

“Night, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be, like, back wherever you live?”

“I live here now.” night said groggily, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “I enrolled in school here.” He yawned. “When’s our first class, anyways?”

Hydro checked a clock nearby. “In five minutes!” She yelled, pulling her brother out of bed. He quickly scrambled to his feet, eyes wide. “What?!” he began to gather up his school supplies into a bag, and with Hydro’s help, they managed to get to their class just as the first bell rang.

Art by A Flame That is Amber on Art Enhancers Amino

“Hydro and Nightwalker, I presume?” Asked the teacher at the front of the class, a sturdy-built MudWing.

“Yeah, sorry we were almost late!” Hydro said, walking towards one of the empty desks in the room. Nightwalker quickly followed, his head held high. The half-siblings sat next to each other, and the teacher began to drone on about history and the beginnings of the seven dragon tribes. Hydro did her best to pay attention, but found her thoughts drifting and her eyes beginning to close. She soon had dozed off, her head resting on the palm of her talon.

Nightwalker noticed and slowly reached over, poking her in the side of the face. Hydro gave a sudden jolt and opened her eyes, looking over at her half brother. “Thanks,” She whispered, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes to wake herself up.

“No problem,” Nightwalker chuckled. “Try not to fall asleep in every class, okay?”

Hydro snorted in laughter and nodded, turning her attention back to the teacher and keeping herself from dozing off once more.

Hydro managed to keep herself awake in the rest of her morning classes. Her stomach was growling by the time the bell rang for lunch, and she quickly ran to the Prey Center to grab herself some food. She got some fruit and fish, the typical foods of her tribes, and sat down at the far end of the Prey Center to eat. She was just biting into a mango when she felt the air around her cool. Looking up, she saw Frigid standing in front of her, smiling.

“Frigid!” Hydro smiled. “What are you doing here, shouldn’t you be in the infirmary?”

“Cactus said I could grab some lunch.” Frigid explained. “Mind if i sit here?”

“Well I’m glad you’re alive, at least.” Hydro said. “Though I wish we’d come back sooner… We could have saved Bass.” She sighed, taking another bite of her food.

“It wasn’t your fault, Hydro.” Frigid smiled. “You and Avocet did the best you could.”

“Easy for you to say.” Hydro grumbled. “You survived.”

“I survived because you saved me.” Frigid insisted. He placed a talon under Hydro’s chin and lifted her drooping head. “You saved my life Hydro.” He smiled. “Be proud.”

Hydro looked at him for a moment before smiling. “Okay… Okay. Thank you, Frigid.”

“No problem,” Frigid smiled. He turned his attention to the food he had gotten, fish and a seal. Hydro smiled and did the same with her own meal, and it wasn’t long before the two dragonets had finished eating.

“So, what now?” Hydro asked, looking around the room. She noticed Copperhead sitting with her back turned towards the two. Hydro was about to approach her when Ice Shard suddenly beat her to it, whispering something in Copperhead’s ear. Copperhead seemed to nod in acknowledgement before standing and following Ice Shard out of the Prey Center.

“Well…” Frigid spoke, snapping Hydro’s attention back towards him. “We could go for a quick flight? I mean, lunch period still has some time left, we can basically do what we want right?”

Hydro nodded and smiled. “Sure! I haven’t gone on a good, normal flight in a while. It’s all been rushing and racing everywhere. It’ll be nice to slow it down for a bit.”

Frigid’s face lit up in to a smile and he began to lead the way out of the Prey Center through a door opposite of where Copperhead and Ice Shard had exited. “Let’s go then!”